The Children of Grima
by twistedwonderland101
Summary: Fate is a fickle mistress - she is indecisive and is known to throw surprises our way. Now she asks this: What if Chrom met more than one person on that field? What if our Tactician had a family member by their side as support, one who wasn't marked by Grima? Vienna and Kain are those siblings, and join them as they embark on a journey to save their world from a dark future.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** As I have mentioned in my short-story compilation, _"Children Disowned By Time",_ I have written my own "novelization" of the Fire Emblem: Awakening story. Though, this one has a slight twist as is mentioned in the story's summary. This fanfiction is heavily based off of my _second _and _third_ playthrough of Fire Emblem: Awakening, so the hinted couples from _"Children Disowned By Time"_ are not in this one. I also deter anyone who _doesn't_ want to be spoiled about the game from reading this fanfic. Go play the game and come back when you're ready! If you don't mind spoilers, then carry on and enjoy the story.

**DISCLAIMER:** **I DO NOT OWN FIRE EMBLEM: AWAKENING NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS USED BESIDES THE MAIN CHARACTERS, VIENNA AND KAIN!** **THIS WAS WRITTEN PURELY FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES!**

* * *

**Invisible Ties**

Flashes of lightning and purple flame flew through the air, colliding against the surfaces of walls, ceiling and flooring as the two spell casters danced around each other. The taller of the two had dark skin that was gray-ish in color; his eyes shone with malicious intent as a hateful sneer distorted his sharp features. The other donned a hood and stood a tad bit smaller than the latter; the hood shielded the top half of her face, leaving her expression to mystery. But with the way her lips were pressed into a thin line was enough to show her determination. The two were locked in combat, tomes in hand, and neither one looked close to backing out.

"Validar," hissed the hooded spell caster. "I will see you defeated!"

The man, Validar, laughed, a sound that would break the courage of any man, but the hooded figure before him was _not_ anywhere near ordinary. "We shall see about that."

At the exact same time, almost in complete unison, they both casted their spells; the magic colliding with each other, canceling each other out and creating a powerful explosion that sent both spell casters flying to the ground.

As she hit the ground, her hood fell back, revealing her delicate facial features, sharp brown eyes that shone with wisdom far beyond her years and an unruly amount of black hair that reached the middle of her neck. Upon impact, her Thoron tome skidded away from her, leaving her defenseless against Validar. She quickly scrambled to her feet to grab her book, when Validar summoned a ball of dark energy and targeted it straight for her.

But before the spell could connect, a blur of silver and blue collided against her body, putting her out of harm's way. Another explosion erupted from the floor where she once was, leaving behind a deep crater in its wake.

"Are you alright, Vienna?" asked her savior, his light blue eyes still trained on the dark mage that stood across the room.

"I'm fine," she mumbled. Vienna grabbed her tome from the stone floor and glared down at Validar. "Thank you, Chrom."

"Fools," bellowed Validar, rage glowing in his yellow eyes. "_Die!_"

With a thrust of his hand, he sent a wave of dark energy toward them. Vienna quickly intercepted the spell with another blast of lightning, canceling it out once more with a loud explosion. Once the dust cleared, Validar's eyes remained trained on Vienna - a look of irritation on his horrible face.

"This is it," said Chrom, his sword, Falchion, held out in front of him. "Our final battle." The prince glanced at Vienna and the look of absolute faith that shone in his eyes renewed her spirits almost instantly. "Vienna, you're one of us, and no _"destiny"_ can change that. Now let's kill this dastard and be done with it!"

"I couldn't agree more," she mumbled. With a tome in one hand, Vienna unsheathed her sword from its scabbard and poised it in front of her.

From across the room, Validar only laughed at them - mocking them even when it was obvious that the odds were indeed against him. He had no reinforcements; he had no more of those _monsters_ that he could summon to do his bidding. Yet, he had the gall to laugh at them, like he has already won. "Why do you resist?" he asked. "Accept your fate and I will give you a quick death!"

Chrom scowled at the dark mage before him. "I decline!"

With a loud battle roar, he surged forward and swung Falchion with all his might. Validar, now forced to enter close combat, unsheathed his own sword and met with Chrom's blows with inhumane agility for a man his age. The sound of metal scraping and clanging against each other filled the room as the two began their deadly dance. With each thrust and swing that Chrom threw at him, Validar was able to block. Every dirty trick that the old sorcerer tried to pull was thwarted by Chrom's quick reflexes; blocking the man's attempts to swipe under his feet by side-stepping at the last possible moment and slamming his elbow against Validar's chest, sending him stepping backwards and choking on his own breath.

Pure anger coursed through Validar's veins as he held out his tome and began to chant for his next spell. "Fools!" He sneered at the duo as a ring of glowing red spell circles appeared in the air and began to grow in size and number - his target, Vienna. "You can struggle all you want! You cannot unwrite what is already written!"

When the spell circle glowed its brightest, Vienna quickly thrusted her hand forward and shouted, "Thoron!"

A streak of lightning shot out of the tips of her fingers and collided with Validar's premature spell, disrupting the man's chanting and blocking his view with a large cloud of dust. Validar cursed as he frantically waved the dust from his eyes, but by the time his vision cleared, Chrom had already lunged forward with Falchion in hand. Unable to move any further, the blade sunk deep into Validar's flesh and pierced him through - a killing blow.

The sorcerer choked as he tried to gasp for breath, but Chrom only sank the sword deeper into the man's body before drawing it back and quickly retreating to Vienna's side.

"Checkmate," Vienna smirked, closing her tome with an audibly for emphasis.

Validar fell to his knees, the light dulling in his eyes before he fell face down to the floor, drawing his final breath.

For a moment, there was silence. Chrom and Vienna kept their eyes trained on the dark mage's body, searching for any sign that he was still alive. When they saw none, not even a rise of his chest, joy erupted from their hearts. They had won! The war was over and peace can return to the land!

Chrom faced Vienna, a grin - something she had not seen for ages - on his face. "We did it, Vienna! We won! And it's all thanks to you!"

The young woman felt a smile creep onto her face, then she saw something odd coming from Validar's _"corpse"_: purple smoke.

Upon seeing the smile drop from her face, Chrom looked at her with concern, gently grabbing her arm to get her attention. "What's wrong?" He asked, but Vienna couldn't answer. Her eyes were trained on the odd smoke and glow that began to surround Validar's body. And the unthinkable happened.

Validar's body rose back up onto its knees and with a voice that resonated inside her mind, he growled. "This isn't over... Damn you _both_!"

The ground shook violently as Validar thrusted both of his hands forward and summoned an enormous ball of energy and sent it barreling toward Chrom. At the speed that it was going, Vienna knew that he didn't have a chance of dodging it and escape unscathed. But Chrom getting injured was out of the question! So Vienna took matters into her own hands.

She pushed Chrom out of the spell's trajectory and took the hit for him.

A searing hot pain coursed through her body as she was sent flying backwards, slamming into the castle's stone interior walls. Energy crackled around her body as she fell limp onto the floor, her strength sapped from her body. She felt numb, almost like, she was...fading away.

"Vienna!" Chrom dashed to her side. The azure-haired swordsman knelt down next to her and propped her up in his arms. "Are you all right?"

She wanted to say, "No" and slap the man silly for asking such a stupid question, but her head nodded on its own. Ever so slightly, she began to realize that something was very, _very_ wrong.

"Good." Chrom slowly helped her get back on her feet and he smiled at her. He glanced back at Validar's body and scoffed. "That's the end of him," he glanced back at her and smiled. "Thanks to you we carried the day. We can rest easy now. At long last..."

Something was wrong. Vienna tried to focus on Chrom's words, but his voiced began to sound distant, like they were slowly moving away from each other step-by-step. A crackle of red magic passed through her vision.

_No_. Panic overwhelmed her senses. _That wasn't magic. There's something else here! Something's inside me! Chrom! Quick! Get away from me while you still can!_

She tried to scream his name, but her mouth remained shut. Her vision slowly began to turn red and she could feel her hand begin to conjure the Thoron spell.

Chrom noticed her odd behavior and he looked at her with concern. He had one hand wrapped around her waist as he tried to support her on her feet. "What's wrong? Hey, hang on-"

_Sshk!_

Vienna could only watch helplessly as she ran a spear of lightning through Chrom's chest. The look of shock in his eyes and how he looked at her like he didn't understand, it made her want to scream.

He began to stumble backwards. He grabbed at the lightning spell as if trying to pull it out. But what shattered her heart even more, wasn't the fact that he was in pain, that she had betrayed him - it was the forgiveness in his eyes that appeared when he locked his dulling gaze with hers.

"This...is not your...your fault," he choked out; his voice now barely even above a whisper. "Promise me that you'll escape from this place... Please, go..."

The light in his eyes disappeared as he fell face-down onto the ground. Chrom was dead. Vienna had murdered him.

A dark laughter rang in her ears, filling her mind, mocking her. She screamed, clutching her heard in her hands as she tried to block it out. Her left hand pulsing, sending arcs of red hot pain through her body.

Then it all went black.

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_Notes:  
If you enjoyed this story, please, feel free to leave some feedback in the reviews. Criticisim is also welcome and is much appreciated by the author. Thank you!_


	2. Chapter 1

**A Fated Meeting**

Her skin felt warm in the sunlight; the bright rays rousing her from her deep sleep. She could hear voices nearby – a young male and a girl. For a moment, their voices were muted; what they were saying was incomprehensible before it began to clear up.

"-om…we have to do something!"

"Well, what do you propose we do?"

The two unknown persons began to bicker. The sheer volume of the conversation was loud enough to snap her consciousness back into her body. Vienna groaned, rolling over from her side to her back as her eyes slowly cracked open. The bright rays of sunlight suddenly in her eyes made her wince, forcing her to squint until she's adjusted. She felt tiny blades of grass tickle her skin and the smell of nature wafted in her nose.

Just where was she?

"I see you're awake now."

_What?_ She glanced up and noticed a familiar face – a blue-haired swordsman with bright blue eyes – but where she has seen his face before, she couldn't remember. She had a nagging feeling in the back of her head that she _knew_ the man standing before her, but at the same time, she knew he was a complete stranger. The whole situation just frustrated her. She had just woken up from a nap – much too early for her head to work on overdrive.

"Hey, are you alright?" A girl with similar blue eyes as the swordsman came into view, but unlike the man, she had light blonde hair that was pulled into two pigtails with a white lace headband atop her head. The girl looked younger – most likely around eighteen years-old. Judging by the concerned look on her face, Vienna must've had an odd expression herself.

"I-I'm…fine," she mumbled, her eyebrows furrowed with confusion.

A look of relief crossed the blonde girl's face.

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know," said the blue-haired man.

Vienna pursed her lips. Was she taking a nap? She doesn't remember anything prior to waking up in this field with these two strangers standing above her. It was a little worrisome.

A deep chuckled broke her chain of thought. She looked up again and noticed the blue-haired swordsman smiling at her; an amused glint in his eyes. Vienna frowned, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks. Just what was this man finding so funny? Does finding a poor, confused woman passed out in an unknown field look _funny_ to him?

"No," he was laughing again. "It's just…" He smirked at her, "you were speaking your mind just now."

"Oh," she mumbled. Her cheeks were probably red with embarrassment by now. "I see."

The blue-haired man laughed softly at her reaction, only furthering Vienna's growing embarrassment. "Here," he outstretched his right hand to her. "Give me your hand."

Vienna shot a cautious look at him before grabbing his hand, allowing herself to be pulled up from the ground and onto her feet. She _knew_ this man was a stranger, but she felt like she could trust him. No – it felt more like she's known him for her entire life. It didn't make sense, but that was how she felt.

Now that she was on her feet, Vienna finally got her bearings of the area. She was indeed in a field – a rather peaceful one too – with small white flowers sprouting from the soil. In the distance she could see the faint outline of mountains; trees dotted the landscape, and the clear blue sky only made the environment even more serene. She could understand why anyone would take a nap here, even if it was outdoors.

Patting off the dirt from her brown trousers, Vienna smiled at the swordsman. "Thank you, Chrom."

She paused. Now where did _that_ come from? Was that the man's name? How did she know his name? She's never met him before! Or, at least, she _thinks_ she's never met him before.

The blue-haired man looked just as confused as she did. "I'm sorry but, have we met before?"

"No," Vienna replied immediately – she knew she's never met this man before. If she had, she wouldn't forget such a handsome face.

_Whoa! Getting off topic there, Vienna. Focus!_

"Ah, then you know who I am then?"

"N-no, actually…" Vienna admitted. She felt her palms begin to sweat. How in gods' name was she going to explain it _without_ sounding like a complete loon? She considered changing the subject, but the look on "Chrom's" face – how he's just waiting for an explanation – just confirmed that there really was no way out of this conversation.

"Your name just, sort of, came to me," she explained, only to receive an even more befuddled expression from, not only Chrom, but also from the blonde pig-trailed girl from before. "I'm not entirely sure how I can possibly explain this, but it's the truth. Your name just popped up in my head and I ended up saying it unconsciously."

Chrom looked even more confused than before. But he had the right sense of mind to just nod his head and overlook the details and focus more on the current situation. "Odd. Tell me, what's your name? What brings you here?"

"My name is…" She stopped short. What _is_ her name? She has a name, yes. But…

"Madam, please answer milord's question," said a man in heavy, light-blue and silver armor. Had he been there the entire time? Vienna didn't notice. Funny. With such big armor shining in the summer sun, noticing this fellow would've been instant.

"I-I'm sorry," Vienna muttered, her head bowed in embarrassment. "I…can't recall my name."

Chrom looked alarmed. "You don't know your own name?"

Vienna shook her head.

"Chrom, I've heard of this!" said the young blonde girl. "It's called amnesia!"

The heavily armored knight scoffed. "It's called a load of pegasus dung. We're to believe you remember milord's name but not your own?"

Vienna bristled, her dark brown eyes flared with mild irritation. "I am telling the truth!" She understood the man's caution, obviously he worked under this Chrom fellow as a guardian of some sort, but he had no reason to be so rude.

Chrom stepped in-between the two before an argument could break out. "Calm yourself," he said to Vienna. And she did, though she did send the knight a few harsh looks. "Now Frederick," he turned to the brown-haired knight, "what if it _is_ true? We can't just leave a child alone here. What sort of Shepherds would we be then?"

Did she just hear him right? Did he just call her a _child_?!

"Just the same, milord," answered the knight, whose name is apparently _Frederick_. "But I must emphasize caution. 'Twould not do to let a wolf into our flock, even if it is a child."

Anger bubbled inside the young woman standing before them. They _did_ think she was a child! She was most certainly _not_ a child! How could they possibly think that she is one? The nerve!

"I'll have you know that I am _not_ a child," she seethed. "I am a grown woman!"

The trio looked at her with surprise. A moment of stunned silence hung over the air until Chrom finally spoke up with hesitancy in his tone. "You…are an adult?"

She scowled. "Yes! I may not remember my name nor do I have a single clue as to where I am or how I got here, but I know I am no child!"

Chrom looked bewildered at the new information revealed to him. "My apologies," he said nervously. "I mean no offense whatsoever. It's just…you…look younger than most women. Also, you share the same height as my sister, so I only assumed…"

He trailed off, but he had said enough for Vienna to fully understand what he was getting at. He had assumed that she was a child because of her height, which she shared with his sister – the blonde girl, she was guessing. However, his explanation didn't manage to quell her anger. Instead, it just made it worse.

"Yes, well, maybe you shouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions." Vienna crossed her arms and glared daggers at the blue-haired swordsman.

The blonde girl giggled; her eyes sparkling with mirth and mischief. "I like her! She's fiery…like Sully!"

Vienna smiled softly; she didn't know who this Sully character was, but she knew a compliment when she hears one.

"R-right then. Now that's settled," Chrom cleared his throat and looked to Frederick. "We'll take her back to town and sort this out there."

"Of course, milord." Frederick bowed his head.

As soon as that was said, the trio immediately turned their backs to Vienna and made their way out of the field.

Vienna was stunned. He had made that decision and he didn't even bother to explain anything to her? Or even give her a chance to make a comment?

"Wait!"

All three of them stopped and turned to face her.

Vienna looked at them bewilderedly. "Don't I get a say in all of this?"

Chrom smiled at her reassuringly, sending a warm feeling rushing through her. "Peace, friend. I promise we'll hear all you have to say back in town. Now come."

He held out his hand to her, and without even giving it a second thought, she grabbed it and followed them to the road. She didn't know this man – the fact being ever so obvious – but she knew deep down that she could trust him. Vienna could only hope that she had made the right choice.

When the grass faded away into a dirt road, Vienna glanced back at the field that now stood behind them. For some reason, she had this strange feeling that she has forgotten something.

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_Notes:  
First of all, I'd like to apologize for the long wait for this chapter. My final exams are coming up along with a national assessment exam, so I've been studying like hell for the past few weeks. But I managed to get this done in-between my **many** breaks that I could grab, so I hoped you enjoyed this new chapter. If you liked it, or just have anything you want to say to me, leave me a something in the reviews. As long as it's not hate (like that horribly written one by a Guest), I will respond in some way - depending on what you've said that is. :)  
_

_And in case you wanted to know, the reason why Vienna is so small is because the Avatar I used in the playthrough that the story is based on is customized with Build 2, the small, Lolita-ish one. And in those scenes where you see the 3D figures of the characters, she's around Lissa's height. So I figured Chrom would've pegged her for a young girl than the woman she actually is. ^^"_


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